


The Raven and the Beast

by Aiode12



Category: Beauty and the Beast - All Media Types, Durarara!!
Genre: Action/Adventure, Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Castles, Eventual Romance, Ghosts, Haunted Houses, Kidnapping, M/M, Minor Character Death, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Shizaya-freeform, Slow Burn, Thriller, Wolves
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-05
Updated: 2017-12-03
Packaged: 2018-12-11 12:58:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 20,568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11714877
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aiode12/pseuds/Aiode12
Summary: In Rococo-era France, an enchantress disguised as a beggar arrived at a ball and offered the host, a cold-hearted blonde prince, a beautiful red rose for shelter. When he refused, she transformed him into a beast and cursed him to break anything he holds, his servants into household objects, and erased the castle from the memories of their loved ones. She cast a spell on the red rose and warned the prince that the curse will never lift unless he learns to love another, and earn their love in return, before the last petal falls.Years later, a red-eyed raven is brought into the beast's life, be it fate or destiny, and the beast is in a ride of his life.(I have finished the story in notes, it's just taking time typing it all out as chapters. Hopefully by 1st JAN 2019, regular updates should start. Thank you so much for sticking by my 1 year hiatus and I am so sorry for the wait.)





	1. A Frozen Night

The cold winds blew all around, and small raven stood amidst the storm, red eyes tired and unfocused. When a gush of cold wind would blow from the right, it would make the human sway in the other direction, and pull the openings of his outer robe closer to his person, trying to close the opening to stop the cold air freeze his already frozen upper body.  Clutching his robe in a death grip, the raven haired human stumbled again on a deep pile of snow, his foot getting caught up in an awkward angle. The fair human groaned in pain and dismay as he tried to move his foot only to stumble and this time, fall to his back. The old, unforgiving snow knocked the air out of the frail body, and the robe opened as the young man let go of the clothing to stop his fall in panic.  
  
Tried beyond words and now strangely numb to the wet and the frozen exterior of his body, the red eyed raven moved his gaze towards the sky. Looking past the snow storm that clouded his vision, the sky strangely looked very clear and he could make out few twinkling of the brighter stars. He felt his eyes go wide as he saw drifting lights of bright green and pink beyond the stars; it looked as though the colours were swimming in the sky. He could almost feel their magic and happiness from the place he lay in the snow, barren from any form of life and oh so far away.  
  
His right arm moved on its own accord towards the magical sky, and his hands opened in a gesture of perhaps catching some of the magic as his own. Just as he thought he might be able to touch the beautiful dance of colours, his vision gave away to black, and he felt himself fall into the calming darkness that welcomed him with open arms. Like a child wanting to be held by a loving mother, he accepted them, not that he knows what a love of a mother feels like, or a father, but if it’s anything to what he was feeling right now, he knew now why parents were so precious to people and mourned the thought of never having this, for himself or for his lovely sisters.

* * *

_**"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away."-unknown** _

* * *

****  
How did our beloved raven ended up such a way you ask?  
  
Well, like any other magical story, it all began with _once upon a time._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm alive! :D If anyone goes back in time, please call up my younger self and tell her to NEVER take accounting as her major. RIP free time. 
> 
> ANYWAY! 
> 
> Enjoy while I go on a writing spree. <3 Leave comments and tell me what do you guys think? :3


	2. The Village

In a small village named Villeneuve, there once lived a human named Orihara Izaya, with his two little, twin sisters. They were alone, and were always alone for as long they could remember, having their parents died very young. Hence, it was put upon Izaya, from a very young age to take care of his younger siblings and make sure to keep them safe from the prying eyes of the villagers. Now, the little raven is all grown up, and has no idea that his peaceful little life is going to be turned upside down _very_ soon.

* * *

The morning was just like any other in the Villeneuve village; Izaya mused as he tried to quietly move through the packed streets of the market. He didn’t know why he kept expecting it to be any different though.  
  
Every sunrise, the traders will sell fruits and vegetables to the costermongers and they in turn sell the goods to the people of the village. In a distance not far from the fruit and vegetable market, the butcher could be seen slicing through fresh pieces of meat brought in by hunters previous evening after a long day in the woods, and hanging them to a metal rod on his side with a hook and sorting out the remains of the animals, the person standing beside him obviously being the furrier, looking for good pieces of skin to transform them into coats of fur.  
  
He shook his head at the shrieks coming from his right as he kept walking past the stalls, knowing it was Mina, an elder lady and the best florist in the area who no doubt had a rough customer who probably touched the flowers in a _wrong way_ , as Madam Mina liked to point out. Izaya felt sorry for her customers, Mina could be way too over protective when it came to her precious flowers.  
  
A block from the centre of the market and into the area of the proper shops, a delicious scent filled the air and Izaya knew that’s where his first stop today will be, the bakers.  
  
He knocked on the door and pushed it open, the little bell by the corner making a ‘ding’ to announce his arrival as he called out,  
  
“Hello, Lenard!”  
  
He tilted his head when he came to stop by the counter and found it empty, but nearly screamed when a big hand covered in flour grabbed his shoulder and spun him around. He nearly fainted then when he came face to face with a head covered in a thick purple disgusting looking paste but quickly recognised the scar on the large crouching man’s neck and nearly collapsed in relief itself.  
  
“Shh! They’ll know I’m here!” the head spoke, spitting out the paste dripping past the lips unto Izaya’s clean black tunic and he tried his best to not show his disgust. Really, this man was so hopeless sometimes.  
  
He noticed the sound of many foot steps outside the bakery, and realised how bad the situation could get if they got caught. The frantic nodding of Izaya’s head made the man quiet down and pull Izaya underneath a table filled with soft looking buns. After a minute of hiding underneath that piece of furniture and Izaya taking out a clean small rag from the pocket of his trousers to clean his tunic, the footsteps moved away from the building and the tense man beside the raven head finally relaxed, letting out a big sigh.  
  
“Finally! I thought I was done for,” he said, moving out and offering his still flour coated hand to Izaya to help him up, while giving the smaller man a big grin which was fairly very creepy in Izaya’s opinion but he took the hand anyway not wanting to hurt his friend’s feelings.  
  
The moment he was out though, Izaya quickly pinched the arm of the baker, _hard_ , making him yelp in pain and stumble back, giving Izaya the space to dust his clothes of flour, while giving the whimpering man a small glare and putting away the, now dirty, rag in a corner of the empty shelf by his side.  
  
“Really, Lenard, you can be too much sometimes. How many times have I told you to not go messing with the Hampling’s but you never listen. One of these days they might actually get you, you know.” Izaya said, huffing at the man in the corner still being overdramatic.  
  
“It hurts, oh my heart and my arm, you cruel, heartless monster!” Lenard said, shooting Izaya betrayed looks while still holding his arm, making him sigh in resignation. Just how did he come to care for children in adult bodies, he’ll never know.  
  
Izaya then moved towards the back of the bakery, Lenard still shooting one last wounded puppy look as he went past him, and grabbed another rag. Dipping it into the clean cold water as he removed the lid of one of many barrels there, but not before pulling up the sleeves of his long tunic to avoid getting them wet, he then squeezed the water out and walked back into the main room. Lenard was picking at the paste on his face and putting it into his mouth, muttering under his breath and just where he had left him, making Izaya scrunch his face up at him, not hiding his disgust at his friend’s barbaric manners.  
  
Izaya took that moment to throw the wet cloth at the baker, hitting the other man square in the face and ignoring the cursing behind him, moved to take the wooden basket placed at the end of the long tables.  
  
“Really? Must you use such foul language and just what were you doing before I came anyway? You look such a mess,” he said as he placed a white napkin inside the basket and then moved to place six soft, steaming buns into it.  
  
“Well, I was trying this new recipe for the blue-berry pie’s but then I panicked when I heard Hampling’s little minions knocking at the door and I-uh-tried to hide under the table but in my hurry I filliped over the pie I was still making on top of my head. I managed to catch the baking tray before it could hit the ground but-err-well, you know the rest.” Izaya heard him answer, though a little muffled because of the cloth on his face, he assumed and moved to take another napkin while folding the one with the buns closed, the aroma of sweet food uplifting his mood and making him relax.  
  
“You better be more careful now, can’t have the best baker in town die prematurely because he pissed off some important people,” Izaya said, and threw a playful wink behind his shoulder at the embarrassed baker to show that he was only joking by his words.  
  
“Sure, sure. Why on earth would _Izaya_ care what happens to this poor little baker if not for the great food he offers,” Lenard added, smirking and stressing on his name, making Izaya stop in his tracks towards the shelf holding loafs of bread and turn around to look at the redhead in question.  
  
“Oh don’t give me that look! From what I hear, Gaston has taken quite an interest in you, making you quite an important person around the village.” Lenard explained and Izaya felt the tips of his ears go red and blood rush to his face,  
  
“Oh God,not you too!” he groaned and much to his dismay, that only managed to amuse the baker even more and make ridiculous kissing faces at him. Izaya only barely managed to resist the temptation of throwing something else at him, and turned around to get back to his original task; get that loaf of bread as he heard Lenard burst out in laughter.  
  
“Really, you of all people know he’s not my type and hell will freeze over before I’ll ever marry that-that-pig headed, narcissistic asshole!” He said, huffing in indignation and making Lenard only laugh more, resulting in Izaya to openly pout at the older man and continue his hunt for that loaf of bread.  
  
“Yeah, yeah, I know, you like ‘em rough and tough but still, it’s still funny to tease you over it and your reactions are just _priceless_.”Lenard said but immediately closed his mouth when Izaya glared over his shoulder, _hard_ , making him gulp.  
  
“Oka-okay! I’m sorry, I went too far!” he quickly squeaked out when the raven-head male started to move towards him, with a dangerous glint in his eyes which promised retribution for his words.  
  
Much to Lenard’s relief, Izaya stopped in his tracks but openly frowned at him saying, “Really, you know how uncomfortable Gaston makes me.”  
  
“Yeah, and I’m sorry.” One look from Izaya, seeing a cheeky grin and mirth in those eyes told him that his friend didn’t mean it even one bit. Why was he friends with such a jerk again? Oh yeah, cause he’s one of the few decent people in the town, as disbelieving as it was.  
  
Izaya only sighed in exasperation and leaned against a heavy shelf. Arching an elegant eyebrow, he said,  
  
“Make yourself useful and get me my damn loaf of bread already. In case you had forgotten, I have two younger sisters who must be starving if they’re up at this time and I really don’t want to keep them waiting.”  
  
If Izaya hoped that would motivate the baker, he was fairly disappointed when the baker didn’t move an inch from his position. No matter, Izaya knew how to get under skin; he just had to be patient.  
  
Soon enough, the cool demeanour of Lenard broke and the bigger male let out a chuckle as he shook his head, making Izaya give him a small grin for his victory. The baker then moved towards the closest shelf, which just happened to be behind him and picked out a very delicious looking loaf of bread.   
  
“Don’t pretend that this isn’t about what it obviously is,” he said as he walked up to Izaya and placed the bread in the waiting napkin and then moved towards the counter.  
  
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Izaya replied, trying to focus on getting the right amount of coins as he followed the crazy baker, whom he’ll never know how he came to befriend, towards the counter.  
  
“Oh, so you are totally not in a hurry to check out the afternoon restock of new edition of books in that favourite library of yours?" The baker teased as he scrambled down the amount of bread and coins for the transaction on a piece of paper before putting it away as record as Izaya put down the payment on the counter, albeit, with a _little_ heavy hand.  
  
“You stay out of that dangerous territory, old man. You’re asking for it,” Izaya replied, haughtily but then they both burst into chuckles in a moment, seeing how ridiculous they were being.  
  
Grinning and with his gloomy mood lifted, Izaya made it towards the door but just as his hands closed over the handle, he heard Lenard call out,  
 

“Don’t be a stranger, Izaya. Bring the girls around the next time you drop by, it’s been ages since I met those trouble makers.”  
  
Izaya turned his head as he opened the door and cheekily replied, eyes shining with mirth,  
  
“So you three can terrify the neighbours? Sure! See ya around, old man!”  
  
He could still hear Lenard’s heartily laughter as he walked down the street to get few more things for his girls, and he’ll be damned if that didn't put a soft smile on his face.

* * *

_“ **The price of greatness is responsibility.** ” – Winston Churchill_

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's another one! Let me know your thoughts and with that, this sleep-deprived author is out. Catch ya all in two weeks. :3 Thank you all for the support and I'm so sorry for the typos or any other mistakes I made. <3


	3. The Outcast

Lenard sure had one thing solid when he had mentioned the new books being added to the local library today, it was one of the reasons why he had rushed through the late morning. Only one, mind you, he didn’t lie about feeding his sisters but here was the catch, they had slept late last night which meant that they would be sleeping well into late afternoon. This way, he managed to grab some fresh bread, will read the last chapter of his favourite book well before afternoon sun came up high into the sky and all the while, grab some new books from the library before local tutors came to take them away, then move on do some chores, all in one go.  
  
 If it all goes to plan, he would get new materials to read, feed his sisters, get some house work done so for the rest of the day he can two of his favourite things, watch the humans of the village by his favourite window on the upper floor balcony of their house, with one of his new borrowed books and soft buns while his sister’s spend the day with Mina, the best florist in the village. The girls usually helped her managing the shop, having developed a bond with the elder florist at a young age, much to Izaya’s dismay.  
  
Just how did the three devils even met is what baffles Izaya sometimes as he almost never let his sister’s out of his sight whenever they leave the house and yet, one fine morning when he woke up thinking it to be a good day and all is right with the world, he sees a beautiful bouquet sitting on their dining table with the twins standing right beside with huge smiles on their faces while they touched the stunning yellow roses gently. When Izaya had asked about the flowers, they had just gave him shit eating grins while saying _‘They’re yellow roses, meaning we made a new friend, silly Iza-nii.’_  
  
He had finally made the connection when they demanded to see Mina and pay her a visit supposedly on the elder lady’s birthday. Ever since then, Mina, much to Izaya’s annoyance, became a regular part of their lives, as she took the girls under her wing, having no family of her own. If the whispers on the street were to be believed, she was grooming them to take over her shop when she finally stepped down. Izaya didn’t know what surprised him more, his sister’s ability to make such powerful connections at such a young age or that they somehow manage to win over a woman’s heart who hadn’t given it to anyone for as long as anyone could remember in the village.  
  
Regardless, he was secretly proud of sisters, though he’ll never admit that to their face, he’ll never live it down. They had a bright future ahead of them. Who knows, maybe a passing Lord or Lady would hear about the shops reputation and scout them, giving them even more of a comfortable life style from either being paid for serving the rich household or should they would fall in love, perhaps even becoming a Lady, one after the other. Those girls never left the other twin behind.  
  
Suddenly he felt cold settle in his bones at the thought that he was going to be forever stuck in his little village, alone. For the rest of his life, reading away about a life of what it could’ve been and all the beautiful places he’ll never visit and for never being enough for his sisters, for failing to marry and providing them a comfortable living so they don’t have to go so far away for their future or work so hard, for being probably the worst elder brother ever. They’ll probably forget him as soon as they get big, and he didn’t blame them. No one would ever want him in their life voluntarily anyway.  
  
His limbs quickly going numb listening to his inner demons, made him stumble and stop in middle of the street, which made the people around him shoot him dirty looks, but when they quickly recognised him, they started whispering amongst themselves, and none so discreetly pointing his way.  
  
_“Oh look, it’s Orihara Izaya.”_  
  
_“No way, the weird one?!”,_  
  
_“I’d keep your kids away from that devil if I were you, I’ve heard things about him.”_  
  
_“Yeah totally, he fills children heads with utter nonsense and fairy tales. Just because he likes to stick his nose in a book doesn’t mean our children need to do the same. We need to work, not dream about fantasies.”_  
  
_“Just look at the twins, they don’t act normal. Do you think he did something to them? But then again, they’ll be rich and-”_  
_“I’d rather not find out, nasty business. I mean come on, his eyes are a total give away of what he is.”_  
  
_“No wonder they call him the devil’s spawn. I’ve never seen such red eyes.”_  
  
_“They look demonic.”_  
  
_“Wonder that’s why Gaston wants to marry him? I mean, he does kill demons and dangerous animals for a living, maybe he can persuade him to be, I don’t know, more human?”_  
  
_“God knows I’ll feel safer with Gaston taming the little devil.”_  
  
_“No fair! I am so totally the most beautiful girl in town; I should be married to Gaston and not that devil!_  
  
Izaya had stopped just a block away from the library. His heart felt like it was being compressed by the weight of a hundred bricks as he heard the whispers. Ignoring the burn behind his eyes while keeping his face down, he forced his legs to start moving before the crowd that had started to gather around him, got violent as they had in the past. To think he thought he would ever get used to the dirty looks sent his way or the humiliation he suffered at the hands of the villagers regularly.  
  
Trying to pay attention on the direction of where he was going and not the snickers and whispers behind him, he quickly found himself in front of the old rusty doors of the only building other than his house in which he felt he belonged and found comfort in, locked away from the harsh reality of his dreams.  
  
Too lost in his thoughts, he didn’t even notice going into the library until someone grabbed him by his two shoulders and shook him a little as slowly a face came into focus in front of him and he finally noticed his surroundings. Why did he feel so numb?   
  
"Ainsley?" Izaya asked as he finally recognised the blonde woman in front of him, looking worried.  
  
"Yeah, it's me. I called your name at least five times but you didn't answer so I- Oh God you're shaking," he heard her say, sounding more worried by the minute as she quickly checked him over for injures.  
  
"I'm not, I just need to-" He started only to be cut off by Ainsley, her face quickly going from concern to stern, which meant bad news for Izaya. Ainsley could be very stubborn when she wanted.    
  
“Need to nothing, you’re going to take a seat by your favourite couch by that fifth shelf and I’m going to bring you some blankets.” Ainsley said, ignoring his all protests while pulling him by his left arm in the direction she wanted, into the most secluded part of library Izaya loved, not that many people came by the small library anyway.  
  
By the time she pushed him down unto the dark leather worn couch, Izaya had given up all attempts at persuading her otherwise and had accepted his fate. It’s then he noticed his basket of bread was missing from his arms, but most probably Ainsley had put it away so he didn’t drop it.

Just as quickly as she had pulled him across the ground floor, she strode away, mumbling about the blankets and a drink, making him sigh in exhaustion and fall back, fully sinking into the soft couch. It was all so relaxing, he thought as he closed his eyes and inhaled the scent of old books in the air, holding all the knowledge and small beautiful worlds in each one. Just as he was about to lose himself in the feeling by falling asleep, the sound of a chair being scrapped across the wooden floor brought him back to full consciousness. Soon enough, he saw Ainsley coming his way, crossing by one of last few shelves in this area, looking sheepishly at him for the noise she was causing.

Izaya only rolled his eyes at the blonde girl, closing his eyes again, only opening them when he felt Ainsley pull the chair into its proper position by the couch then moving to put the thin blanket over him, and moved back to sit in the chair while silently handing a hot steaming mug to Izaya, who took it with a murmur of thanks before moving himself into a more comfortable position and sipping his hot milk, without a hint of sugar in it and just the way he liked it.  
  
Ainsley gave him a minute before she started off her questions,  
  
“So, spill. What’s wrong?”

Never moving his gaze away from the steaming liquid in the mug in front of him in his lap, he repeated what he had said softly,  
  
“Nothing, really you’re just-“

“I am not over-reacting, and don’t you dare say I am Orihara Izaya.” She snapped,

Izaya only sighed in response, he hated causing trouble but he knew Ainsley well enough by now that the woman never gave up.

“Just the villagers’ being themselves again,” he answered, not moving his face to see her face twist into rage just before she managed to calm herself down with few deep inhale and exhales.

“So that’s the voices I heard. Izaya, you should’ve called me and let me beat some sense into those shitheads,” she finally said, still sounding furious but not like on the verge of breaking something as she was by the look on her face when he finally did look her in the eye.

“I’m sure I don’t have to remind you of the fact that you’re pregnant? Getting into fights is the last thing you should be doing.” Izaya responded, giving her a soft smile at her stunned reaction. She hadn’t told him yet, wanting it to be a surprise when her husband came back from a nearby village where he was trading.  
  
“How did you-“ she spluttered, making Izaya grin at her in response.

“I saw the little signs. Like how in the past week you’ve never stopped touching your stomach whiling managing the books, those awe filled smiles on your face when you notice where you hand was and the change of diet. No ale? That’s something you’ve taken more than actual food in your life up at this point and yet you hadn’t touched it in the entire past week,” He elaborated, making her blush in dark red colour.

“I’m happy for you,” he finally settled for, and was glad when that was the right thing to say as her face lit up and she openly smiled at him but quickly shook his head into a frown,

“As much as I am pleased to hear you say that, Izaya, I’m not letting you change the subject that easily.” She said, looking at him with soft hazel eyes but with a stern face, making Izaya roll his eyes at her again.

“Look, you know how the villagers’ are, and that’s how they’ve always been. You getting involved will only mean mad news for you. Especially now that you just don’t have to worry about yourself, but you have to look after the little one, too.” He said,  
  
“But-“ She protested but Izaya quickly shook his head in response,

“No, Ainsley. Honest, I’ll be okay, just take care of yourself and stay out of trouble alright?” Izaya asked, and Ainsley sighed in resignation.

“And speaking of taking care of yourself, I should get going,” Izaya said, putting the half drank cup by the side of the coach and sat straight up.  
  
Just as Izaya spoke those words, Ainsley sprang up from her chair and pushed him back down,

“Just where do you think you’re going?” She asked when he glared at her, annoyed.

“I have to get few copies of the books that should’ve come in by now before tutors come in and I need to get the bread to my sisters before they have my head for being late. Mina is coming to pick them up for a session and I doubt she’ll listen to my excuses for the girls complaining. Not to mention half dozen chores piled up back home,” He replied, still glaring at her but made no moves to force himself up.

“Okay, first of all, I already have saved up the books for you. I know how much you love them and how anxiously you’ve been waiting for. Have some faith in me will ya, and I just closed up the library for today, so no one will be disturbing you today. Second, I’ll deliver your sisters lunch to them, don’t worry. As for your chores, I’ll have my maid clean up,” Ainsley said, looking smug at the thought of finally having her way.

“You do get the fact that I am totally fine and capable of doing it all myself, right?” Izaya asked, still sound sour at having his plans for the morning ruined.

“Oh I’m sure, just you’re pale as death, and looking like you’ll topple over at anytime. Totally capable,” She said, sarcasm practically dripping from every word she uttered.

Izaya just threw his hands up in frustration, and groaned out “Fine! But just for today,”

Ainsley’s returning smile just made him want to stick his tongue out in response, but to preserve whatever dignity he had left, he just laid down on the coach and pulled over the thin blanket over his head, making her laugh at him in response.

“I’ll put reheat the milk when you wake up from your nap and by the way, the new stack of the books is by the reading table on the top floor, I’ll go get the bread to your sisters,” he heard her say and he shook his head in agreement.

Over the sounds of Ainsley’s fading footsteps, he removed the blanket enough to be able to breathe, making sure that the tears now freely falling were ever hidden, despite no one being near him at the time.

He did care what the villagers said, despite trying his best not to. He heard what they said every single day since he was a young boy, and wished he was not as hated as he was. Then maybe, he wouldn't be as lonely. 

* * *

**_"Maybe I should treat you the same way you've treated me, then maybe you'll understand how much it hurts."  
_ **

* * *

_Someone was shaking him and calling his name, making him frown. Could they leave him alone for a while? He was so comfortable here, it felt like he was floating in the skies, without any of his usual burdens,_  
  
_Izaya!_  
  
_What, what do you want?_  
  
_Izaya!_  
  
“IZAYA!”  
  
He bolted up straight and pushed the arms shaking him away as he almost shouted, “What?!”  
  
Quickly, Ainsley’s panicked face came into view and noticing the darkness of the shadows around him, he concluded he had slept more than what he had intended.

"It’s Mairu, she has collapsed!”

And with those simple words, Izaya felt his world come crashing down around him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so it finally begins! By now, you all have officially met all the original characters in the Village (only there mind you), so phew! I hope you guys like my pals Mina and Lenard, they're good people I swear! xD
> 
> Anyway, as always, I appologise for any typos and mistakes and thank you so much for reading my work. Leave your thoughts below in the comments, I love hearing from you guys and the positive criticism only helps me grow! :D
> 
> See ya all in two weeks! I'll go hug my lil baby Izaya-kins cause it breaks my heart whenever I make him suffer. 
> 
> Izaya: Lies! You love seeing me suffer, you insufferable little sadist.  
> Me: Shush love, I'm finding you a lovable, adorable baby beast to tame yo ass. I'm busy ~  
> Izaya: *splutters*


	4. Poison In My Veins

_  
_ The door opened with a bang and Izaya nearly stumbled into the room, not that he gave any mind to that fact as his mind was focused on one task, and one task alone; get to his sister as soon as he could and ignore anything and everything else. He paid no mind to Ainsley’s gasp behind him right before Mina asked her to give him some alone time with his sisters and closed the door on their way out. He didn’t have any strength to even ask them otherwise and just focused on three figures at the end of the room, two of them being his sisters and he just had enough time to recognise the man as the village’s _supposedly_ best physician before he saw Mairu in the bed with Kururi holding a way too pale hand between hers while sitting on the right side of the bed and softly crying.  
  
Mairu was way too pale, extremely pale. With those clean sheets laid across her abdomen, she looked almost-  
  
With the realisation that he might be too late, he felt his legs give away a foot away from the bed but before his knees could touch the ground, strong hands held him up quickly and he turned to look at the old physician holding him up with strength most people would assume impossible.

“Is she? Oh please don’t tell me she is-“

“She’s alive, for now,” The old physician quickly told Izaya, cutting him off mid sentence gently.

Knowing that she was alive made his body go lax in exhaustion but thankfully the physician was stronger than what he appeared to be.

“I’m glad- I thought- thought-,” he began only to be cut off again by the physician,

 “No, you’re not late, and your sister’s condition is stable for now, you can relax.” He said as he helped Izaya to sit on the opposite side of the bed and right beside Kururi as Izaya’s heart was coming down from a near heart attack.

Just as Izaya was within reach, Kururi quickly jumped on a very startled Izaya’s lap and broke down into loud sobs as she threw her arms around him.

Izaya quickly hugged her back when he recovered from his shock of being on the receiving end of any sort of physical affection, and rocked Kururi as he began to mutter to what he hoped were comforting words, saying it’ll be alright. All the while, ignoring the burn behind his eyes and trying not to fall apart right then and there. He had to be the supporting pillar, for both of his sisters' sake.

It took a while, but Kururi’s cries finally and slowly turned into small whimpers here and there. She finally moved her head away from Izaya’s chest to look sheepishly up to Izaya,

“I ruined your shirt; I’m sorry Iza-nii,”

Izaya was once again surprised into speechlessness by the blush on Kururi’s cheeks while she tried to look defiant and composed. How long had it been since he had seen any reactions for the twins other than their perfected ‘not impressed’ look or the expressionless one. With a jolt, he realised that he should really start spending more time with them of what he was able to have right now before it was all taken away from him.

He was broken out of his stupor by Kururi poking his right cheek with her index finger,

“Oii, Iza-nii?” she inquired,

“Yes, yes. It’s fine, Kururi, don’t worry about it,” he said, gently slapping her finger away when she had started to apply more pressure to dent the check enough for it to be painful.

“Are you okay?” Izaya inquired, shooting a soft yet really concerned look her way before cubing her face and looking over to see any injuries.

Kururi’s lower lip began to tremble again and Izaya quickly moved his hand to rub warmth into Kururi back and to help with her light shaking,

“Hey, hey, now. I’m right here and not going anywhere. You can tell me” He started only for Kururi to shake her head in denial and close her eyes tightly.

Frowning in concern, he finally realised the presence of the physician in the room who was quietly observing the pair from the opposite side of the bed, while every now and then checking up on Mairu.

“Has she told you anything about what happened or why is Mairu in this state?” He enquired but the physician quickly shook his head,

“I’m afraid I have yet to learn as to just how this event came to pass but I can give you the details of your sister’s state,” the physician began and further elaborated when Izaya raised an eyebrow as to say, ‘Well? Get on with it!’ just as Kururi tucked her face into the crook of his neck to hide.

The physician took a deep sigh and then began “Your sister has been poisoned,”

And with that, he felt his blood go cold in his veins and Kururi to stiffen in his arms.

“Will she be okay?! Do you know what type of poison was it and do you think this was someone’s twisted way to take revenge on me?” Izaya began, a slight hysteria that he couldn’t cover up slipping into his tone.

“I have to run more test to be sure but I doubt it was the villagers-“ The physician shook his head when Izaya opened his mouth and continued,

“I know of your history with the villagers’, and I know it’s not a pleasant one. I may be old, but my hearing is still good and I know what mostly the word is on the streets about you, but I’m telling you, the villagers’ may be responsible for a whole lot of your suffering, but this incident right here isn’t one of them. Your sister got the venom directly through a snake not a human made bottle of it.” he finished, dryly.

“I’m not sure you’re quite the person I would want near my sisters right now,” he bit out, glaring at the old cocky man in front of him.

“Then you’ll be sending your sister to an early grave, you know as well as I do, I am her best chance.” Was the reply he got and it made him grit his teeth in frustration. This guy really could be just messing with his head, wasting his time so he doesn’t have time to settle in with another physician.

“But then again, she got bit by a very poisonous snake. Cases like these never do make it through since an antidote is practically impossible in this day and time, the venom is too strong and by now, it must’ve spread through his entire body. I say you prepare for the worst,” said the physician coldly.

When he had first opened his mouth, Izaya had never wanted to punch anyone so passionately before.

“That ‘case’ is my sister who you are talking about, you pathetic human! And just what on earth did you mean by my sister being hopeless?!” he snapped, and if looks could kill, the person sitting in front of him would be a thousand times dead over.  

The physician sighed and finally allowed his expressions to change down to a sad smile.

“I’m sorry, Izaya. If I had believed those rumours, I wouldn’t have been here. Underneath all that heavy armour, you’re just a boy who was forced to grow up too fast. As for your sister, there is nothing I can do,’

“There must be something we could use. A different remedy! You said so yourself, she’s stable now, so there must be some remedy out there that can help! If you have any quarrels with me, please keep them for me and do not punish my sister,” He started, looking pleadingly at the only person who could save his sister in time.

The pain he felt with pieces of this heart being broken off one by one at the head shakes of the physician in front of them numbed out all other stimuli, like Kururi loud cries in the background and the words stuck in his head on repeat,

‘There is nothing you can do,’

“This is all my fault,” Kururi sobbed out by his shoulder which snapped the attention to the little girl still stuck to Izaya’s front like her life depended on it.

“What do you mean?” asked Izaya, perplexed.

“It’s my fault she got bit! If i hadn’t went into the section Madam Mina warned us not to, to pick flowers for Iza-nii's birthday in few more mornings since you work so hard for us, she wouldn’t have gotten bit by that large snake! Oh Iza-nii, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean for her to get hurt.” Kururi confessed, looking pleadingly at Izaya.

Izaya didn’t know how many surprises his body could take today. He was so close into bursting into tears at the thought of the twins being so good to him and the realisation that he might be losing one of his sisters very soon if he doesn’t do anything about it.

“Oh Kururi, there is nothing to forgive and the idea for my birthday was so thoughtful of you. This isn’t your fault! Accidents happen, it’s alright. It’s going to be just fine, you’ll see.” He said gently, wiping few tears from Kururi’s eyes and removing his handkerchief from his pocket, he gave it to her to blow her nose.  

As Kururi laid her head back unto Izaya’s shoulder and fell into an exhausted slumber, he looked at the stunned expression of the physician across him.

“What?” He snapped over, lightly but the elder only shook his head in response,

“You really are not the monster everyone makes you out to be,” The physician started,

“Yeah, I’m not.” Izaya sighed in agreement.

“There is really no antidote, you do realise that right?”

“There is one, invented by a French physician,” Izaya replied, remembering one of the books he finished just a fortnight ago.

“You mean the one with the Kronprinzessin Viktoria rose?! Are you insane?! That type of white rose is practically a myth, it doesn’t exist!” The physician said, looking positively horrified.

“There have been rumours of the flower being seen in the forest north of here in the local mail. I have to try to find it,” Izaya said, looking sternly at the old man. His mind was made up, he had to try.

The old physician sighed, Adrian was his name if Izaya remembered correctly.

“Then you must hurry, I have few procedures that will delay the poison from further spreading and buy you sometime.” Adrian said, giving Izaya a soft smile. Having someone believe in him took some of the burden off his shoulders and he found his lips tugging slightly at the end.

He then moved Kururi to lay down right beside Mairu, and interlinked their arms together, knowing they’ll prefer to be near each other.

“Mina and my friends will help you treat her, I must go and start packing for my journey so I can leave at first light tomorrow,” Izaya said, moving towards the door.

Just as his hands closed on the door’s handle, he heard Adrian say behind him,

“When you get the rose and we get past this, you owe this old man a drink.”

Throwing a quick grin behind his shoulder,

“You’re on, just keep my sisters safe while I’m gone.”

* * *

_“ **Maybe I hope too much. Maybe I dream too much, but at least I won’t give up until I’ve tried and I won’t regret anything** ”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sleep deprived. I moved houses so I have no internet yet, McD ftw xD anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and we should be seeing Shizuo and rest of the cast next chapter. Leave your thoughts in the comments and let me know what you guys think?!


	5. Of All The Perverts

By the time he placed another flask of water into his small saddle bag sitting on his bed in midst of his half destroyed room, his back was killing him and his feet were sore. In short terms, Izaya was absolutely exhausted and ready to topple over any given moment but the thought of Mairu, looking ashen in the white sheets as she panted for her next breath with Adrian cooling down her forehead with a wet towel dapped in lukewarm water prior to him bringing it over to try to control her fever as he just stood there, hopeless and useless, spurred him back into action.

With just few hours left until dawn, and he had to pack for a journey that might just end up killing him. The problem was, Izaya had never left the Village, so he had only packed the necessities his books told him to pack and hoped that they would last.

He pressed gently on the belt of his black trousers, and felt the weight of the small metal blade dig into skin as a reminder that he had means to protect himself. The blade he had swiftly nicked off a merchant in the market at a very young age, him not being able to afford to buy anything other than basic necessities at the time because he had the responsibility of two young sisters upon his shoulders.

Izaya had never told anyone he had such a dangerous item hiding away in his closet, stuffed away in hopes he’d never had to use it on anyone. He hated hurting humans, even if they were vile and just pure _nasty_ to him almost all the time he’d step into the broad sunlight of the day.

Just for fun though, he had develop a hobby of playing with the light blade whenever he knew he could get away with it, behind the locked doors of his room when he was sure that his sister’s were not in the house as he threw the blade towards a make shift target on the door, and hitting bull’s-eye with a loud bang because of the force behind the hand.

Izaya shook himself out of memories and gave once last look around the room which was spotless few moments ago but in his panic and hurry, he hadn’t care as he threw everything out of his closet in his frantic searching of the book and he still doesn’t.

Glancing back to his bag and double checking the contents of it, he nodded in approval when he saw few pieces of bread, rolled in a white napkin, two flasks of water with couple of small pouches of healing herbs suggested by the book for minor cuts and bruises, a thin blanket and the book which held the recipe for the antidote with details about the feature of the flower he will soon be searching for.

He silently nodded in approval before running downstairs and quickly snatching few pieces of fruit in the basket by the main door as he rushed outside, dressed in more comfortable and warm clothing than he had first come into house. Be barely had enough time to draw quick bath before he had to leave but he was glad that he had managed to do everything in due time as he glanced up to the open skies outside his house, where he could see a little halo of yellow, signalling the time of dawn.

Quickly running down the steps and unto the barely lit street, he didn’t notice a pair of amused eyes watching his every move from the darkness of an alleyway right across from him as he dashed towards Mina’s house.

Just as he was about to turn a corner, he was quickly pulled aside by the arm and the next thing he knew, his back was colliding with the rough wall of a barely lit corner with a yelp of pain and his arms were held tightly above his head, forcing his robe to open at the front.

“Oh, look what I found on these early hours of such a fine day,” his captor said and Izaya could recognise his voice a mile away.

Gaston.

Glaring at the man who was standing a bit too close for comfort, he pulled at his hands to check the grip and confirmed his suspensions as Gaston smirked at his reaction and squeezed his, now bruising, wrists roughly making Izaya bit back a whimper of pain.

Fuck that hurt, and he couldn’t even nudge his arms an inch. Thankfully, his bag was still tightly closed and the slings across his chest.

Deciding to play along to let Gaston drop his guard around him, he relaxed his tense frame and grinned up at the black head instead, tilting his head to the side a little, knowing it’ll show off his long neck he quickly whispered,

“What you want, Gaston?”

Gaston whose blue eyes had gone wide at the gesture, quickly regained his composure as he leaned further down, breathing down Izaya’s neck and Izaya forced himself to not gag at the stench of alcohol coming off the bigger man’s breath.

“You know what I want, you little minx.” He replied back as his grip loosened around Izaya’s wrists and smiled, eye’s twinkling like he had finally caught the object of his unwanted affections.

Izaya, using that as a clearing he was much desperately wanting for, twisted his lithe body around where he stood.

Pulling his arms close to his person, he pushed himself out of the corner where he had been tapped in; successfully manoeuvring himself and ducking out of the small opening between the bigger man’s spread out arms and the wall, within a blink of an eye.

Gaston who took a moment to recover, however wasn’t fazed at all as he looked at him standing far away, and smiled mischievously.

“That flexibility of yours.” He began with disgusting moaning noises, throwing his head back as he closed his eyes and Izaya’s grin faltered a bit.

Just why did humans of this stupid village love the horny idiot standing in front of him, thrusting his hips towards Izaya and making lewd faces that probably would turn the ugliest old grannies on this forsaken land into a gagging mess, he would never know and frankly, he didn’t have any time to spare for dim-witted human beings who thought the world began and ended with their cock stuck up someone’s hole.

Now thoroughly annoyed, Izaya took a moment and pulled his outer robed closed in front him, rubbing his aching wrists and discovering the itch to wash his hands to get all the germs off his person as he darkly grinned at the drunk man who was now rubbing his crotch through his clothes.

“Leave me alone, Gaston. You know I’m not interested. Go find someone else to fuck, possibly one of those over powdered fan girls of yours who probably touch themselves every night thinking about you,” he said, surprising himself with the language he was using and then shuddered at the disgusting image painted in his head when the words registered in his brain. Oh God he was going to throw up.

“You know I want you and I want you alone. I was those long legs locked around me around as I-” Gaston started with a breathly moan,

“Don’t, ugh, that’s disgusting,” Izaya mumbled as he started walking back slowly, hoping to get far enough to break into a run and loosing Gaston but Gaston heard him anyway as his gaze snapped back to Izaya, his hunter skills kicking when he noticed Izaya’s voice moving further away and stopped his ridiculous looking moves in hopes of getting close to Izaya before he had the chance to run away.

Cursing himself for his stupidity, Izaya glared at the man advancing his way in long strides, still touching himself through his clothes and forced himself to stand still and ignore his body jerks to jump back from the horny bastard in front of him.

Just as the man was a few steps away from his person, Izaya’s temper finally snapped. Months of being harassed, groped and grabbed by the hunter in front of him, ridiculed by the females and some men of the village for catching the black haired celebrity eye, he finally had _enough_. He had a sister to save, and no one was going to get into his way, especially not a bloody mutt who couldn’t control his fucking hormones to save his life.

Narrowing his eyes as he bend his knees, opening his legs as he waited for Gaston to come a little near. Gaston, not caring through his drunken haze, kept taking walking towards him. Just when the man was exactly where Izaya wanted him to be, he finally let go of the momentum he was holding up.

He quickly shifted his weight to his left leg, twirling on the point until his back was facing the hunter and then just as quickly shifted his weight towards his right for a moment, bending a little to let the drive carry his left leg at a knee height in an arc across his body. Then, quick as lightening, while his left foot was almost a foot away from touching the ground, he jumped up from his right leg, twisting his body to move along with the motion.

The overall momentum and the addition of the thrust from that one last bend of the knee, he sent his right leg flying as high as he could in a circle with everything he had got and just as he predicted, his foot collided with a rock like surface.

He heard a crack before pain exploded along his leg but he was forced to step on his right foot to come to a stop, but nearly regretted his decision when he did as his right leg nearly gave away at the burning agony of having to handle his weight with his left leg.

Gritting his teeth against the pain, he turned around to see the result of his anger and to be honest, he was impressed with himself.

Gaston was completely knocked out, blood tickling down his open lips and it looked like Izaya had dislocated his jaw.

Bloody hell, Izaya was _really_ impressed, he realised as he blinked in astonishment. Sub-continuously, he shifted his weight to his right leg and this time, his leg really did give out under him as he fell to his knees with a groan at the added pain of his knees colliding with rough stone but managed to break his fall with throwing out his hands in time to steady him without face planting himself on the dirty ground.

Breathing through his nose, he looked back towards his ankle and at first it didn’t look anything to be wrong with it as he pulled up his trousers a bit to assess the damage but there was deep bruising around the area and it was a little swollen. So it was most likely sprained, Izaya concluded as he sighed in resignation.

Just on a very important day, where it was required that Izaya be at his most top physical condition ever possible to even remotely survive the journey, he had to lose his temper and sprain his ankle.

He shook himself out of his thoughts; he had to see this through, sprained ankle or not.

Forcing himself to stand and putting his weight on his good leg, he noticed the pain wasn’t as bad as he had expected and he could successfully limp and get to Mina’s house where she had already prepared a well trained horse for his journey. His sister apparently meant a lot to the woman, for which he was grateful for. If he didn’t make it back, well, he wouldn’t have to worry since he knew she would look after the girls. 

Limping slowly towards the direction of Mina’s house, he noticed the skies lighter and cursed under his breath. Moving to throw one last glare behind his shoulders at the body of the unconscious hunter for wasting his precious time, he kept moving forward. His destination was only a block away and he'll deal with the consequences of his actions later. Hopefully, the mutt won't remember anything when he woke up. 

It was his own guilty pleasure wishing the pervert never did wake up. It would've been such a blessing if it did come to pass though. 

* * *

_**“Without pain, there would be no suffering, without suffering we would never learn from our mistakes. To make it right, pain and suffering is the key to all windows, without it, there is no way of life." -** ** Angelina Jolie ** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry I am late a day. Hospitals are not fun D': The things I had to do to get my laptop ugh. Don't worry, the next chapter will be within 13 days, not 14, to make up for lost day. Sorry our beloved Shizuo isn't in this one, but I have finally set the story moving in the direction I've wanted to for more than a month now. 
> 
> And well, this story is rated explicit for a reason. Heh, so I appologise for destroying our childhood. I won't appologise for Gaston though, I've been waiting to hurt him for nearly 10 years ever since I saw the beauty and the beast for the first time. xD
> 
> This isn't the end for him though, that son of a bitch will be back sooner than I want him to. Ugh T^T
> 
> Leave a review and let me know of your thoughts or which part do you look forward to the most! :D
> 
> P.S I wrote this while listening to a love song, isn't that just fantastic. I'm such a romantic lol xD


	6. Deal With It

Izaya opened the door with a bang, jolting the occupants of the room as he nearly stumbled into house as the throbbing of his right ankle got worse with each passing moment.

“Izaya!”

Hearing his named spoken with such shock forced his gaze to snap up at Mina who was looking at him like he’d had grown a second head.

“What?” He snapped, the pain and exhaustion not letting him think rationally.

Mina opened her mouth to say something but then her eyes moved to the leg Izaya was now clutching, hunched over and holding unto the door for dear life. Her quick thinking is what prevented Izaya falling for the second time that day, Izaya noticed as he tried to take another step only for the painful sting travel up his leg and make him loose his footing, Mina quickly moving to hold him and then move him gently to the couches by her fire place, taking his heavy saddle bag and placing by the door to ease his burden.

“My God, what happened to you?” Ainsley exclaimed as she came down stairs, hearing the noise and in time to see Mina help him sit, and quickly moved to stoke the fire to increase the warmth of the room.

“Gaston,” He groaned out and took steadying breaths.

“I’m going to kill him,” She bit out but Izaya only shook his head in response,

“Please don’t, the villagers are already going to be pissed at me for breaking his jaw,” He replied,

“No, that bastard-wait, did you saying you broke his jaw?!” Ainsley nearly shrieked at him, and he grinned at her in response, giving a wink over to a stunned Mina.

“Hence the sprained ankle, my darling. His face is made of bricks,” He replied, shoulders shaking with mirth as giddiness finally started to set in. He couldn’t believe he actually did that.

“You, my friend, are the craziest person I’ve had the fortune of meeting,” Ainsley said, shaking her head at him and smiling goofily as she move to sit by his knees look at the ankle, gently trying to remove his boots and singling Mina for a wash cloth and medical supplies.

“I don’t know, some people might call it misfortune,” added Mina from the corner of the room and Izaya threw a dirty look over to her but she just flipped him the finger before bringing over a steaming mug and only waited long enough for him to grab it before twirling on her feet quickly as she walked to the adjoining room, outside of his line of sight, where she could be heard rummaging through the drawers.

He looked back to look at Ainsley over his cup, who was frowning at his right boot covered ankle, having the left one removed just moments ago.

Taking a sip of his drink, he let the warmth spread through his core and loosen his tense shoulders, making him relax into the soft couch. Putting away his drink by the floor quickly before he spilled his plain tea, he took a moment to slump back into the cushions behind his back and sighed, his mind wondering to the route he had planned.

From here, it was a near thirty minutes hard ride to the West for the outskirt of the village to be reached, where he’ll need to stock up anything he missed in his bag because he’d rather not place his survival supplies at the hands of hungry northern thieves unless he absolutely had to, and give the horse a well deserved break to replenish lost fluids.

The North couldn’t be trusted, as the weather was too harsh for trading to happen, leaving the people starving on most winters and men to grow aggressive. They would have fights over even a small bottle of water more often than not.

The South was the main port for the market for a reason.

After the final check, there was about five to six hours slow ride up North, a mile away from the main road that went along with the border to avoid running into trouble, and into the wilderness as the northern border curved into the East, leaving nothing but the rough terrain forward.

There was a check point there, Izaya had checked it on the latest maps of the area. A tavern, small but recently opened, perfect for the people not looking for trouble as the rough roots of the gangs there had not taken over the area yet. There was where he refilled his water and food, if needed and give the horse twenty to thirty minutes break to freshen up before keep moving North, and well into the wilderness where the flower was rumoured to be seen. Leaving him with maximum four hours of day light to search for the flower until he had to take a moments rest and shelter for the darkest moments of the night.

Mairu, according to the physician, had maximum four days until the poison in her system did irreversible damage to her brain and body. It would take Izaya two days just to go and come back, leaving him with forty-eight hours of searching time. It was nowhere near enough time to even begin to cover even half of the bloody forest there but he had to try. Time was of the essence and he just had to make it work.

However, there were other factors to look into before he even managed to get that far north.

There was no government law upholding in the North, applying the rule ‘ _survival of the fittest_ ’. He had heard of the gangs and the shifting of power that happened recently, which could go either way for Izaya. It could be considered a good thing because that means no new laws had been made by the gang who took over the ‘ _throne_ ’, which meant travellers like Izaya, when smart, could go through the area relatively unscathed. However, if the power shift had not been in the community’s favour, that meant trouble. The villagers would most probably be hostile to anything and anyone, demanding retribution. A traveller of unknown origins with a wounded leg? Izaya would never make it out alive.

He shook his head to clear his thoughts. He’ll just have to keep applying the medical balm Mina was no doubt preparing by the stench in the air of medical herbs, and hope that five hours should be enough for him to walk without showing any signs of weakness.

However, he was roughly brought back to the real world as his gaze snapped back to Ainsley when his body jolted at the sudden flare of pain from his ankle and he bit his lip to stop the cries from escaping, his vision quickly going dark and blurry at the onslaught on his senses as his fingers curled into fists to deal with it.

_IT FUCKING HURT!_

He heard someone calling his name, smoothing hands on his lower leg, his now naked ankle feeling the difference of temperature and throbbing with pulses of pain shooting up his leg but his vision continued to blur until the black completely overtook the light and he let the darkness embrace him, taking him away from the searing pain. His mind, blissfully silent since this whole ordeal started.

* * *

When Izaya came to, he noticed that his surroundings were still the same and he was laid on the couch he was previously sitting on, with a thin brown blanket draped over his body, making only his tightly bandaged ankle left out in the open as it was propped up on the soft manchette of the couch. His boots where back on too, he noticed but the bandage could be seen where his trousers had ridden up. He’d have to hide that.

Noticing a shadow falling over to his side from the fire place and a weight on his left hand, he blinked his eyes into awareness and focus, and he saw Kururi fast asleep by his side.

She was sitting on the ground, arms crossed over on top of the side of the couch beside Izaya and face tucked into her crossed arms and her left hand gently closed over Izaya’s limp one from where it was poking out of her cocoon for her head. She looked at peace, and no tear tracks on her cheek. Which was a good thing. He didn't want to see her cry anymore.

Smiling subconsciously, he moved his right hand as to not jostle her awake, he tucked her dark haired strands thrown across her face behind her ear gently, and shook her a little to rouse her as he pushed his upper body up to the left side, leaning on his elbow and not moving his legs.

He best be going and seeing Kururi sleeping in such an uncomfortable position for him just didn’t sit well with his stomach. To the best of his knowledge, she probably had spent the night with Mairu, looking after her and was probably exhausted and now she had to baby sit her brother for losing his temper. Shouldn’t he be the adult here?

He locked his thoughts away at the back of his head as his sister slowly straightened up, looking at him with groggy eyes as she swayed a little to the sides, still clearly half asleep. Eyes going wide in panic, he gently pulled at the hand which was still connected with hers when she began to stopple backwards, making her go forward and into the arms of her waiting brother.

Holding her close, he pressed a quick kiss on top of her head just as Kururi sleepily mumbled,

“Iza-nii?”

“It’s alright, I got you. Sleep.” He mumbled into her hair, knowing he didn’t show physical affection to sisters even remotely enough and this was too out of character for him by Kururi’s books but right now he didn’t care. He was losing Mairu already and Kururi was all he had left now of his blood in his world. 

“I love you, Iza-nii.” Kururi said in a whisper, before her body went lax in a very stunned Izaya’s arms.

Biting back tears, he kissed the top of Kururi’s head, and moved his legs, gently moving them down on the floor. Ignoring the dull ache in his ankle, he properly sat straight on the couch, Kururi still in his arms. Just as he was contemplating how to move Kururi without hurting them both, he saw Mina come down the stairs from the corner of his eyes and coming to a stop by the last stair, her face the ever expressionless whenever Izaya was near.

Looking up as their gaze locked, he relayed his silent request and she nodded in assent, moving towards him until she was a foot away and gently took Kururi from his arms as he moved to the foot of the couch, and helped place Kururi’s legs up on the couch where he was lying moments ago, as Mina arranged her in a much comfortable position. Taking the blanket he offered up to Mina, he watched silently as she tucked Kururi in, smoothing her hair with soft smile on her face and ignored the clenching on his gut at the scene.

“Promise me,” he demanded suddenly, keeping his tone harsh but low, jolting Mina out of her work to look at him in question.

“Promise me you’ll take care of them, you won’t let any harm come to them.” He repeated, eyes blazing as he clutched his hands into fists, creasing the part of the blankets he held previously.

Moving up to stand straight, she directly looked him in the eye as she began,

“I promise, and I swear to you by my life that as long as I breathe, not a hair on their skull shall be harmed and their hearts safe from ache,”

Izaya felt the tension leave his body and he let out the air he was subconsciously holding up in a long sigh. His sisters would be fine. Even if he couldn’t make it-

“Don’t even think about it,” Mina snapped him out of his thoughts,

“I know that look, don’t even think about it. I forbid it.” She repeated, and Izaya only looked back at her incredulously, 

“You forbid it? Just who the hell-” he began, growing more frustrated by the second but Mina cut him off with a shake of her head.

“I don’t know how you can be so sensitive to words the villagers say-” She began in an annoyed whisper,

“I am not sensitive to words, you-”

“-but can’t even read out the bold and glaring words of love your sister write for your sorry excuse for an ass-“

“ _Oi!_ My ass is great-“

“-everyday and still contemplate leaving them.” She finished, not at all paying mind to Izaya’s attempts at interruptions.

“I’m not leaving them! For God’s sake, woman just-”

“Dying is same as leaving. I swore to protect them from emotional harm, they’d be distraught if you died so you better not even think about it. You’re going to come back, and in one piece,” Mina said, as she moved to set the blankets again around Kururi when she rolled to her side in her sleep, glaring at Izaya from the corner of her eyes.

Izaya sighed in resignation, it’s not as if he had a death wish. He was practical and it was a possibility.

Looking over to the woman his sister cared dearly for, he rolled his eyes and her smug expression, knowing that her message had gotten across.

“Fine,” he grumbled out in a conclusion, “For how long was I out anyway?” He asked as he tested out his right ankle by putting a little pressure on it only to feel the sharp sting of pain and hiss through his teeth.

“Not long, just an hour.” He heard Ainsley reply and he looked over to see her walk in from the main entrance, removing her coat and giving the basket she carrying to Mina who had hurried over when the door had opened. He could smell the fresh food till here and his stomach clenched unpleasantly at the thought of it. He could barely stomach tea right now, let alone breakfast.

“I need to get going,” he said as he stood up on his left leg, holding the arm of the couch by his left hand as he limped forward to place one last kiss on Kururi forehead who had still not awoken by the noise.

She must really be exhausted, he concluded, just as Ainsley walked towards him and threw his right arm over her shoulder, ignoring his protests for she was pregnant and shouldn’t be doing hard labour, and continued holding him up and helping him walk to the door where Mina was adding few glass bottles to his bag until Izaya only accepted his fate and focused on not tripping.

“I’m sorry for earlier though, I didn’t realise taking the shoes off would hurt so much.” She said, sheepishly and Izaya rolled his eyes again but he did give her a tired smile.

“Would’ve liked a warning or a painkiller before it happened but it’s alright,” he replied just as Mina opened the main door and lead them outside towards the stables where a white horse was ready for travel and looking alert.

Helping him up the horse while grasping at the saddle, Mina gave him his bag which he threw across his chest and grabbed the reigns lightly when he settled down, slowing his injured foot into its designated space as Ainsley kept petting the horse to steady him while Izaya turned his attention on Mina.

“There are five bottles of pain-killers in there and two small containers of healing balm with few fresh bandages that i added in. It is all could brew in such small time frame but they should last you at least three days,” Mina replied when Izaya asked what she added in his bag.

“Izaya, I wish you would bring someone along with you,” Ainsley began but quickly went silent when Izaya shook his head at her.

“We’ve already had this conversation, I need you both here to look after the girls and not to mention, Ainsley, you are in no condition to travel,” He replied, looking sternly at the pouting woman.

Mina moved over to stand beside Ainsley as they moved aside and away from his path. Noticing his horse growing restless, he gave small smiles to the women sending him off,

“I’ll see you ladies soon. Keep them safe,” He said as he gently nudged his horse into a trot, right as he was going to increase the pace, he heard Ainsley wishing him luck as loud as she could.

With adrenaline coursing through his veins at the thought of everything that lay ahead of him, he looked back at the girls, who looked quite small as he rode through the barren streets of the village and towards the direction of West, with the rising sun on his face and making his eyes look red with hair flying around him in a graceful waves, he threw a beaming smile to them and nudged his horse into a full gallop, his flexibility and long experience on a horse when young allowing him to keep his injured foot away from the moving body of the horse as he flew through to the streets and well away from the sight of the worried gazes of the women.

* * *

**_  
"Blood makes you related, Loyalty makes you family" - unknown_ **

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried *gross sobbing*. I TRIED so HARD to get Shizuo but my brain went like 'OH HELLL TO THE NO BITCH, the hell you thinking not including the rest of the cast?' hence the detour. *points at the character tags*. Feel free to kill me, I would very much like to do that to myself as well. :'D But seriously tho, I was about to kick Izaya out the door like "get the fuck going already!" D:
> 
> So with the way I am debauching this story, I'm feeling a lil....naughty. Who is up for Beast!shizuo x Izaya smut? I mean, why do we have to skip over possibly VERY kinky sex just because this is based on a Disney story?! Don't get me wrong, I love the lil happy ever after and all but .... but ... 
> 
> Let me know in the comments if ya all want it, or nay (or how you want it *pervy smirk* I read too many gay porn, I need help narrowing it down with pointers lol) and I shall deliver it out of goodness of my heart and not for my fap- AHEM- I'm a female, I mean, *places entirely innocent content*. 
> 
> Take it as compensation for giving Shizuo blue balls for making him and us wait this long when we finally see him, okay? Shizuo, wait please for few more chapters, alright?
> 
> Shizuo: *growls*  
> Me: uh, please don't eat me? *slowly sneaks away*


	7. The Tavern

The once glaring sun of the late afternoon had hidden itself deep into the dark clouds looming above, and Izaya had felt the temperature starting drop from about an hour ago, ignoring it until he was forced to stop to drape a thicker robe over his stiff shoulders and reapply the smoothing balm over his ankle. The swollen had got down a little but it was still nowhere near enough for him to walk without a prominent limp in his step.

Finishing wrapping up his ankle in a fresh bandage, he gently eased his foot into the shoe, leaning against the rough bark of the tree where he had tied his horse and looked up at the dark sky with a sigh. Closing his eyes, he tipped his head back and relaxed to the feeling of cool breezes gently blowing about while pulling his outer dark-coloured robe closed, to preserve his body warmth.

He was just about five to ten minutes away from the Northern checkpoint and well, he was well stocked on supplies, but in his adrenaline rush on finally leaving the village, he had pushed his horse too hard. As soon as he had dismounted, the horse had attacked the cold puddle of water by the tree with vigor and then he stood still with his neck low in height, eyes half closed and resting the rear foot with the ears to the side.

Izaya had not run into trouble yet, but his gut told him that it was only a matter of time before something did not go according to plan.

He almost jumped out of his skin as his eyes snapped open in panic when he felt a gentle nudge on his arm, strong enough to nearly topple him over.

Heart in his throat, he managed to regain his sense of balance while hoping a few times on his good leg as his laid his right hand palm flat against the tree and snapped his gaze over his shoulder only to blink in confusion. His horse, or whom he had come to call Atlas after his late obsession with Greek mythology, stood there and as soon he saw he had Izaya’s attention, he began to gently pawing on the wet ground beneath them.

Amused beyond belief, he slowly limped his way to his companion few steps away and Atlas stopped moving around to prevent further injuring him. Mina had told him that Atlas wasn’t attached to anyone in the household, never responded to the names she had picked up for him and he never got along with the rest of his kind in the stables but he was the most efficient when it came to riding, Izaya remembered as he came to stop in front of the beautiful creature and stretched his arms out to scratch Atlas neck, feeling his pitch black and soft coat under his fingers.

Atlas butted his head gently to Izaya’s chest, with less force this time, and cocked his head to the side, clearly enjoying the grooming and Izaya felt his face break out in a small pleased smile. Quickly stopping his ministrations to pull out an apple from Atlas saddle bag, he gently divided his weight on his legs so that he could feed the fruit his horse with one hand and continue to pet him with the other.

Ears forward, Atlas kept on happily munching away his treat as Izaya softly murmured to his friend.

“You know, I liked you even more after Mina told me you didn’t respond well to her, Atlas.”

Responding to his name, Atlas placed one ear back while the other stood forward. Ah, he was listening, Izaya realised and his smile turned into a full grin. Turns out they had apparently bonded over their mutual dislike of Mina.

Snorting out a small laugh, he continued to pet Atlas as he let his mind wander and take in the peaceful grey scenery. The air was cleaner, a lot easier to breathe in. It felt weird to him, if he’s completely honest with himself. The realisation that he’s here, miles away from home, technically in middle of nowhere and _free_ , made his stomach clutch in excitement and nervousness. Maybe, just maybe, after Mairu is healed and the twins stand on their two feet, he can leave the village for good.

Sure, he grew up there but it never felt like home.

He was jolted out of his thoughts when he heard a twig break under strain, his face snapping towards the direction of the sound. It had come from deep dark trees towards his left, and Atlas seemed to getting nervous too. His decision made, he quickly mounted Atlas and giving whoever had made the sound anymore time to possibly harm him or his companion, he nudged Atlas into a gallop, and well unto his route of the final check point.

* * *

It took him longer than expected to get to his last check point; the tavern, having to take a detour through the rough terrain of the forest to throw anyone tracking his moments off rail, he had fairly exhausted Atlas, and had wasted an hour worth of daylight. It was better to be safe than sorry though.

Moving slowly through the cold and snowy roads of the forsaken part of the lands, he finally saw the name he’s been looking for,

‘ _Russia Sushi’_

It still sounded ridiculous to him as it did this morning when he had read it on the map but no matter, it was none of his business. The tavern looked exactly how he had imaged it would from the outside, worn out and barely hanging on in the extreme weather and a warm looking stable right beside to falling apart building.

Feeling relieved that his companion will at least have his good night’s rest in comfort, he quickly fastened Atlas in and slid close the heavy doors of the stables, which took most of his remaining energy away.

Things really hadn’t gone according to plan because of his slight miscalculation had made him and his companion victims of extreme fatigue and they absolutely had to stop tonight or continue and faint into the wild. He really shouldn’t have pushed this hard, he contemplated as pulled up his dark hood and pushed open the door to the tavern, the bell hanging by the door announcing his arrival and he was forced to try not to prominently limp across the room as at least twenty five pair of eyes had their eyes locked on him.

Fuck, seemed like this place wasn’t as secluded at this time of the day as he had hoped.

Ignoring the vultures, he slowly walked over to the main counter where a large dark skinned man was smiling a little too brightly at him.

As soon as Izaya was a step away from the desk, the man smiled even brightly and bellowed out,

“Welcome! Sleep at Russian Sushi, eat at Russian Sushi! Sushi good for you!”

Izaya did a double take then, this smelled trouble from miles away. He was attracting too much attention and the overenthusiastic greeting could only cause tensions to rise.

Deciding to play along like he didn’t have groups of people looking at him with the intent to dissect him to find his secrets, he answered as he placed a few coins out on the table, “Evening, I need a room for a night,” keeping his tone low.

The man nodded quickly, collecting the money and hunched down, scrambling his hand away in one of the drawers for a minute, leaving Izaya even more conscious of gazes burning holes at the back of his skull. Looking from the corner of his eye, he saw some folks looking disinterested, sipping on their ale with a plate of what it looked like sushi, but Izaya knew those were the handful of people he needed to avoid running into corridors at all costs.

Just when he thought that he wouldn’t get to his room alive with the way a ginger haired man, who was practically vibrating in his seat at a nearby table, was looking at him with obviously glee at finding fresh meat to rough up, the man at the counter closed the drawers with a bang and asked,

“Got it, name?”

“Smith,” Izaya replied, eyes slightly narrowing at a quick glance at the red head, “Jackson Smith,”

Pushing the keys forward as the giant man scrambled his name in the parchment on the desk and Izaya reached out a hand to grab his key only for a ginger haired hand close around his small wrist in vice like grip as soon as he felt his fingers curl around the cool metal.

Red eye’s snapping to the twinkling grey ones, Izaya kept his face expressionless even when it felt like his wrist was going to snap at the pressure.

“Oh, look here boys. We’ve got ourselves a pretty lad,” said the smirking man to the group who had stood up as well, no doubt his friends and Izaya felt his right eye twitch in annoyance.

“See can’t his face, you idiot!”

“Pull it down!”

“Finally some action tonight,”

Keeping a straight face at the comments bring thrown all around him, and mentally congratulating himself for not wincing at the bone shattering grip on his wrist, he wondered just why on earth did most people around him had unhealthy obsession with leaving him with broken appendages? First Gaston and then this lunatic. Honestly, he was beginning to think he had pissed off fate at some point in his life and hence his punishment to be kept in middle of humans with the brain of a size of a rice grain.

Knowing him though _,_ _he probably had_ _,_ he mused.

He was rudely snapped out of his thoughts, which happened annoyingly more often than not, by a big hand grabbing the ginger by his hair and slamming his head face front into the counter with a loud bang, giving Izaya’s arm a jolt with a momentary downward pull at his wrist before the grip on his wrist was released and he stumbled a step away from the scene to make sense of his surroundings.

Turns out his rescuer was none other than the big guy at the counter, who was frowning at the red head wiggling under his weight on the table and Izaya felt his chest warm at the unexpected gesture. Usually people never cared in the South but to think he actually found someone who stood up for him in North, known for housing ruthless people and the heart of criminals, was so amusing.

_“_ _Simon!_ Come _on_ _,_ I was only having a _little_ fun! _”_ came a muffled response by the guy pinned to the table, and to Izaya it almost seemed like he was ‘whining’? Oh dear Lord this place was too weird and he strangely liked it.

“No, fighting bad! No hurt people!” said the guy, supposedly named Simon, looking very put out and almost like he was scolding a five year old and Izaya had a very sudden impulse to crackle at the sheer absurdness of the scenario playing out in front of him.

Only the twitch of his lips gave away his amusement, however, as he decided to quietly observe the two individuals participating in an almost friendly banter.

Tuning back into their conversation to a strangely otherwise quiet room, he almost took his thoughts back when Simon pulled the red head up by the cuff of his robe like the bulky bag of muscles weighed nothing at all and Izaya truly saw the damage done to the once pale and unblemished face.

His nose was clearly broken and he was dripping blood everywhere. Along with that, ghastly looking splinters from the rough surface of the table had broken off and had embedded deep into the left cheek.

 Deciding well off to not deliberately piss off Simon during his night here, he felt the rush of momentary adrenaline fade away and the exhaustion finally setting in his limps, reminding him why he was actually here.

Looking at the stairs leading upstairs towards his right, he decided that it was time to take his leave, now that the entire room’s focus would be on the still bickering pair in front and it would be less likely anyone would follow him up.

Creeping slowly away, he breathed a sigh of relief when his feet finally touched the floor of the stairs and his movement had only caused few heads to turn momentarily before shrugging and going back to their drinks.

As Izaya kept moving up and went to find his room to collapse in for the night, he didn’t see in his exhaustion, a hooded man leaving the tavern just as quickly as Izaya has left, door closing behind in with light ‘ _ding_ ’ that no one noticed, almost as a ghost, and disappearing deep into the cold night.

Little did the red-eyed raven knew, that as the grounds outside was being coated white, whispers of his arrival had already reached the ears of very dangerous individuals hiding in the well forgotten areas surrounding the tavern.

_‘Escape unscathed? You wish.’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I AM SO SORRY I'M LATE but I had to rewrite this chapter. I was absolutely disgusted with my previous version and in my frustration, I went on a writing spree and have finished the next two weeks worth of chapters. Guess what, SHIZU-CHAN IS IN THE SECOND CHAPTER I WROTE and I'm so happy *gross sobbing*. I can't wait for you guys to read it.
> 
> The next chapter is the last story building one where we'll meet the some more Durarara!! characters and wola, my version of this universe building is done for outside the castle.
> 
> Also, I just had to add Simon in this. I'm sorry, he's precious. He may not play a big part, but he's so precious T^T/
> 
> Let me know your thoughts in the comments? :D


	8. Where There Is Power, There Is Resistance

Tired beyond words, Izaya didn’t even bother to take off his outer robe and quietly slid into his bed for the night, mindful of his swollen ankle. It had healed up mostly nicely, but still had a dull ache of a feeling to it.

His good fortune for the day had ended then it seemed because just as his head touched the pillow, he noticed a dark shadow looming by the window, hidden away behind a thin curtain that didn’t hide the moon light pouring into the dark room.

Internally groaning at his bad luck, his right hand thumbed softly at the ends of the small blade as he stealthy brought it out of his inner belt around his trousers to hold it in a tight grasp between his fist, hidden underneath the cover of the pillow as he held a little show of shifting around to finding a comfortable position to sleep. Closing his eyes in a pretend of being asleep as he forced his body to go lax, he waited for the person’s next move and he purposely positioned himself in a way which had his back was venerable, turned towards the window.

Waiting on the person’s next move, he wasn’t disappointed when it only took five minutes for the person’s patience to run out. Just as he felt the bed dip behind him, he pushed himself to his knees as he swung his right arm in an arc behind him, the metal shinning under the reflection of the moon light dropping by the bed. His assailant caught his wrist with a grunt before the sharp blade could slit his throat open, and quickly twisted his arm behind him until he was forced to let go of the blade with a pained gasp.

Izaya didn’t have much time to be disappointed in his slow reflexes as the next thing he knew was something hard colliding against his temple, the impact of which had his consciousness falling into darkness.

* * *

As he came to, he noticed he had a killing headache, an event which had an alarming rate of accruing frequency as of late and he groaned at the waves of pain rolling down his body. Opening his eyes, he squinted at the darkness that hugged him like an old friend, and he immediately noticed two things.

First he was annoying tied up good on what felt like a wooden chair, and that there wasn’t complete darkness in the room like he first thought. There was little halo of warm toned light falling into the room from the space below the door.

As the buzzing in his ears stopped, he noticed muffled screams coming from the other side of the door and heavy thumps.

Just how did he end up in these situations again?

Resisting the urge to groan out loud, he shifted in his seat trying to loosen the knots tied around his wrists. His ankles, thank heavens for small mercies, were unbound.

He was forced to cease his struggling in panic when the door was flung open, the lights bright and blinding, but thankfully it seemed that his movements were not noticed as a dark blue haired man slowly stepped into the room, brown eyes focused intensely on his person.

Relaxing his shoulders to give an indifferent posture, he leaned back into his chair and gave the man an unimpressed stare.

“So, you’ve created quite an uproar in the area with your arrival.” The fair man said but Izaya refused to acknowledge his obvious attempt at idle chatter. So he did what humans hate most.

Ignored him completely and broke off the eye contact to gaze behind the man shoulders and towards the open door.

He heard the man sigh and then move towards the right part of the room, out of the doorway and his direct line of sight but Izaya couldn’t even follow the man’s movements if he wanted, his eyes were too busy being glued to the puddle of flesh and blood on the other side of the open door. There was a mess of a body right beside the door’s hinges, and he figured the noises before was of that poor chap.

_Just fan-fucking-tastic._

People here were not only stronger than him, but complete nutcases too.

Oh, he was absolutely _loving_ this place for sure.

He felt a pleasant shiver go up his spine, his limbs practically shaking with thrill and the rush of adrenaline. A part of him, who still wanted to blend in, be the nicer person, protested at his reaction but Izaya’s consciousness merrily swatted it away like an unwanted fly zapping about.

Just why did he try so hard to blend in the society anyway? Fuck that shit. Right now, however, he had more pressing matters to attend to and unfortunately, time would not stop for him. So, he had to get going.

“So, how about we start with a name?” Came a question from his far left as Izaya tuned back to his surroundings, red eyes shining with barely concealed mirth.

Izaya stayed quiet.

From the corner of his eye, he saw the man slump his shoulders with a resigned sigh, and turned around to his box sitting on top of a creaking metal table of, no doubt, torture tools and began ramming around looking for whatever suit his taste.

“Then so be it.”

Slightly worried but no less amused, Izaya took the opportunity of man turning his back to him and renewed his attempts at getting his hands untied.

In less than a minute, he had them loose enough to slide his hands out of the loops but he kept them where they were, waiting for an opening. Running now would probably be suicide and not to mention, his ankle will, no doubt, not appreciate the decision.

The man after seeming finding an instrument that would satisfy his sadistic desires gave a triumph hoot.

Izaya did not like the sound of that and when the man pulled out a knee splitter, one of the medieval era’s most painful torture tools, he felt his amusement falter.

Okay, now that was bad. _Very_ bad.

The man sent a gleeful smirk his way as if reading his thoughts before pulling the bloody thing all the way out and starting in his direction with small measured steps.

Just as his mind went into full blown panic mode, both members of the room flinched at the loud crash from the adjoining room.

Cursing, the man put down the torture tool and quickly began to move towards the door in long strides only to stop abruptly to dodge a katana-

_Wait, what?!_

Izaya did a double take, but the scene before his eyes did not change.

The long blade had imbedded itself into the wall, just millimeters from where the man’s head would’ve been if he had been leaning against it.

Two pairs of red eyes connected and their gazes locked on each other, and Izaya wasn’t sure if he liked this place as much as he initially had thought.

There were three people standing at the entrance of the room, a woman whose hand was still stretched out being the one who had thrown the sword with blazing red eyes accompanied by two men, one with grey-blue eyes and short black hair with the second one with light brown eyes and dirty blonde hair. All of them wearing dark clothing designed for movement.

“Aoba, that’s enough.” The guy with short black hair said gently with kind eyes, but his tone had Izaya’s stomach do a flip flop.

This guy may not look dangerous, but he was the most lethal one out of the four in the room.

“But, Mikado-!” Aoba started in protest only to be cut off by the blonde.

“Oh shut your trap already, you fucking wet dog. You’ve caused enough trouble.”

The blue haired guy, Aoba, practically snarled at the blonde for cutting him off.

“Masaomi, you _dare_ -!”

“Aoba, Masaomi, didn’t you both hear me? I said _enough_.” Mikado said, never raising his volume but Izaya caught on the unspoken threat fairly quickly.

_You speak another word, you won’t be able to speak ever again._

Right, charming really..

However, the two men caught on fairly early on and their mouths snapped close with clank and Izaya hid a wince at the sound of teeth knocking together.

The tensing of his shoulders however drew the attention to him and Izaya was really considering his choice of actions today as all of their gazes locked unto his frame. Did someone jinx him or something? All his decisions were turning out to be very wrong ones.

“Anri-” whatever Mikado had started to say to the woman with red eyes, so much like him yet so different when an ear splitting bang sounded outside their walls and the next thing he knew, he was hearing Aoba curse quiet colorfully as he grabbed Izaya by the cuff of his back collar and flung him out of his chair, staggering towards the three individuals while avoiding the falling debris. In his shock, he didn’t even had the time to grab his ropes before they gave away.

Izaya hid a painful wince when the woman, Anri closed her hand around his wrist, having already retrieved her sword by the look of it on her waist and pulled him after her as she twisted to move to the front door with the three men quickly following her foot steps and choosing not to comment on his boundless state.

Within few seconds, they were out of the collapsing house and Izaya, despite being on an adrenaline high, couldn’t shake off the ache settling in his body with all the bruises and small wounds.

Opening his eyes, not knowing when he had closed them, he saw what was once a plain field of white snow now coated in red. Screams in the air as people shoved, pulled and practically butchered each other. It was still night, but the blazing flames of the houses on fires threw a golden halo on everything.

Eyes widening in shock as he took in the scene, he nearly stumbled down the steps leading to the main road when Anri, being ahead of him, pulled at his right wrist and forced him to break out in a near run to avoid face planting himself on the ground and getting stabbed just as Mikado gave the order to his group.

“Move! The _Yellow Scarves_ may be a thing of the past but you wouldn’t want to take them all up alone.”

As they ran through the thick snow, with Izaya’s ankle fairly protesting at the harsh treatment, he quickly threw a look over his shoulder just in time to see Aoba and Masaomi get forced into a fight, fists going hand in hand. Mikado, however, didn’t even spare his partners a second by the looks of it and just gave Izaya a cold smile, jerking his head forward as in to say,

_Keep your eyes to the front._

As fucking if. Narrowing his eyes, he looked around for a street sign. Anything to get him to his horse and out of this place. Just as they turned to another corner on the street, Izaya only had the opportunity to see the sign board stating the name of the street for a split second before they were ambushed.

Just as Anri let go of her vice grip on his wrist to draw out her sword just in time to intercept a blade attack, Izaya bolted to the dark alley on his right, knowing that three other people were keeping Mikado busy behind him.

Two of the people, wearing some sort of an article in the colour yellow, scrambled after him but frankly, Izaya had quiet enough wasting his time around. Mentally recalling and recognizing the name of the street, he realised he was only a block away from the stables where his horse was.

Grinning openly at the good news, he ignored the soaking of his trousers and robe, and just focused on loosing the two goons after him. Disappointingly, he lost the two just after a minute into their chase.

Pathetic, really.

Nearly spooking most of the animals in the stables as he burst through the doors, in no mood for finesse or care, he quickly strolled over to his black beauty, the horse recognizing his need for urgency immediately as he stood up and grunted in welcome. 

Untying Atlas, he quickly checked the saddle bag he had tied around his horse and sighed in relief when he found the book was still there. He might have lost of some of his supplies, but not all.

Pulling out his last pair of knives from the saddle bag, he hid them in his waist belt and quickly mounted Atlas just as the doors banged open for the second time that day and two people immediately noticing him, let out a battle roar and charged towards him with their sharp weapons raised.

Eyes wide, he grasped Atlas reigned properly as his horse pushed his weight on the lower legs, trying to trample over the humans and broke out into a gallop, the two men jumping aside just in time to let the angry horse through.

Bursting out of the stables, he quickly steered Atlas into the direction of the dark woods and nudged him into a full speed, leaving the smell of ash and blood behind where it belonged in the north. Ankle, along with everyone other joint in his body protesting at the harsh pace he had set up, however it didn’t seem like his troubles had ended for today.

Few minutes into the dark forest, the trees had grown wilder, and soon there came a point when the darkness was suffocating. The moon light which guided his path was now practically nonexistent and it was snowing heavily now.

Reducing Atlas speed to a light gallop turned out to be one of his many growing mistakes for the last past twenty-four hours as their scent of fresh blood and warmth had lured in the wolves.

Quickly feeling the blood leave his face at the second howl he heard far too close for comfort, he gritted his teeth against the cold and rubbed Atlas neck, who had gone very tense at the sounds of the creatures around them. Just as he opened his mouth to whisper few assurances to Atlas is where everything went to shit.

The wolves it seemed had long surrounded them, waiting for an opportune moment to strike in the shade of the dark trees and bushes.

Eyes wide in panic, he didn’t even have a chance to scream before they were upon them with jaws open and drooling. Atlas reared back, dislodging Izaya from his back as he didn’t find any purchase to hold unto on his horse quickly enough, having let go of the reigns in spur of the moment.

His back collided painfully against the cold white brick of a rock, and he felt all the air in his lungs knocked out at the action.

Wheezing, he slumped over to his front as numbness quickly started to set in his limbs. Blinking away the dark spots in his eyes, his gaze quickly focused on the scene in front of him.

Atlas was protecting him, standing in front of him like a guardian. He stomped and reared back, anything to keep the wolves away but it was obvious he wouldn’t last long as the wolves keep pushing him back and unto Izaya.

Biting back a pained scream with the way his ribs protested as he forced himself to stand on his two feet, swaying to find his balance, he quickly scanned the area in panic for any possible escape route.

Taking one of the knives out of his belt, he slashed one wolf across the face that had gotten through Atlas defenses and it jumped back to its pack with howl. Just as he was turning to his original position, he saw it.

The was a very narrow path along the thick trees, too small for the gigantic wolves but no problems for his lithe frame. It was only few steps away, but the wolves had already gotten too close. One more step and Atlas would be crushing his master.  Atlas was a strong horse, and it was obvious he could hold out his own in a run but not if Izaya was weighing them both down.

Decision made, he quickly moved to take his book from the saddle sitting askew on Atlas before the wolves made another attempt to slash him with their claws and fastened the book away inside his robe as he took a deep breath to steel his nerves.

Giving one last look at his surrounding, he gently patted his horse flank. A touch to the sensitive area drawled the attention of Atlas to Izaya, and he hoped he gave a proper smile back as to say,

_We’re going to be okay. Trust me._

Nodding to himself, he pushed his horse in the opposite direction of the open road for second, bellowing a strangled, “ _GO!”,_ and ran with all he had to the little opening he had just seen.

Counting on the Atlas's intelligence had been a good idea, because the horse bucked and quickly caught on the idea as he broke out into a gallop and ran in the direction Izaya had directed him, tricking more than half of the pack into following him.

Lungs burning from lack of oxygen and legs shaking, he reached the opening just in time to avoid being torn in half. Slipping through the thick boundaries of trees, he kept running into the darkness, the cold getting worse and worse by the second. He didn't let himself think, just move.

_Move, move move._

The wolves, as predicted, could not follow him.

* * *

 

_Previously, on Chapter 1._

_The cold winds blew all around, and small raven stood amidst the storm, red eyes tired and unfocused. When a gush of cold wind would blow from the right, it would make the human sway in the other direction, and pull the openings of his outer robe closer to his person, trying to close the opening to stop the cold air freeze his already frozen upper body.  Clutching his robe in a death grip, the raven haired human stumbled again on a deep pile of snow, his foot getting caught up in an awkward angle. The fair human groaned in pain and dismay as he tried to move his foot only to stumble and this time, fall to his back. The old, unforgiving snow knocked the air out of the frail body, and the robe opened as the young man let go of the clothing to stop his fall in panic._  
  
_Tried beyond words and now strangely numb to the wet and the frozen exterior of his body, the red eyed raven moved his gaze towards the sky. Looking past the snow storm that clouded his vision, the sky strangely looked very clear and he could make out few twinkling of the brighter stars. He felt his eyes go wide as he saw drifting lights of bright green and pink beyond the stars; it looked as though the colours were swimming in the sky. He could almost feel their magic and happiness from the place he lay in the snow, barren from any form of life and oh so far away._  
  
_His right arm moved on its own accord towards the magical sky, and his hands opened in a gesture of perhaps catching some of the magic as his own. Just as he thought he might be able to touch the beautiful dance of colours, his vision gave away to black, and he felt himself fall into the calming darkness that welcomed him with open arms. Like a child wanting to be held by a loving mother, he accepted them, not that he knows what a love of a mother feels like, or a father, but if it’s anything to what he was feeling right now, he knew now why parents were so precious to people and mourned the thought of never having his, for himself or for his lovely sisters._

Well, now that you know what happened and how it all began, shall we continue? After all, _the show has only just begun._  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am late, fuck! I am so sorry. I've been dying with high fever and sore throat for the past 6 fucking days, barely having enough energy to stand, let alone do anything productive. With my mid-terms this week and formal presentation with 4 bloody assignments with me being the leader of my group, I truly feel like the living dead.
> 
> Anyway, the wait is over. Next chap, incoming Shizu-chan! Thank you so much for being patient with me and I appologise for any mistakes.
> 
> Let me know your thoughts in the comments?


	9. The Castle

He had been swirling through the pleasantly numbing darkness that surrounded him for what it seemed a very long time. That was until his body decided to slam him back into consciousness and that is then he felt _very_ scrap, bruise and injuries on his person to a level which made him really contemplate his thirst for adventure and trouble. Like really, was it worth this searing pain?

Groaning as he rolled over to his side, he pushed his burning forehead against the frozen ground as he tried to rather his energy back. His clothes were soaked through, and he couldn’t feel his toes that well meaning things were going to get even worse if he didn’t his game on.

Putting forward his frost bitten hands below his body, he pushed his weight back but nearly toppled himself over in panic when he got the angle wrong and missed his legs entirely.  Huffing as he regained his balanced back, his strength left him just as quickly he had scrambled it back but he managed to sit upright, legs closed over to his left as his right hand kept him upright.

Looking around the open snowy field, he felt his heart drop when he saw nothing but _miles_ of snow. He had nothing on him to even last a fortnight in this place and the only shelter he’ll be getting from the snow storm which will definitely be back in few hours, were the woods from which he just ran away from to save his life.

It seemed he had a big decision to make, to either take a chance and try to find Atlas in the woods, hoping his companion has managed to get away from the ravaging beasts or test his luck against the storm and carry on through the plains hoping for a miracle to happen.

He groaned again, eyes closing as he brought up his left hand to rub his aching eyes. Right, he was here for that damn flower. The quicker he got it, the faster he could leave. That of course, made his decision automatically for him.

Looking at the forest with barely concealed contempt, he gulped in nervousness, his parched throat tingling unpleasantly in reminder of his thirst. Oh fuck his luck and his life.

Biting back an agonized scream at jolting his bruised ribs as he stood up too quickly, he swayed on his feet as he tried to make sense of the tilting world around him. Having gained his sense of gravity balanced for the second time that day, he slowly started towards the thick trees in front of him, one arm locked around his upper chest as tried to not jostle his injured ribs further.

By the time he had crossed the distance between him and the dark woods, his lungs and forehead were burning up and his body had broken out in cold sweat. Recognizing the early signs of sickness, he forced himself to take the last few steps into the darkness through the hole he had previously come from.  As the darkness hugged him for umpth time that day, he slowly made his way across by feeling the rough stone in front of him as he maneuvered himself to move aside such a tight space.

Coming to the opening of the small sanctuary, he felt his eyes go wide in utter bewilderment at the scene that greeted him the moment he left the comforting shadows.

Instead of seeing the familiar snowy tracks he had been following when he was attacked, a narrow pathway really in between the trees, he was greeted with enormous iron gates standing where, he was hundred percent sure, there had been a wall of impenetrable ancient trees just few moments ago.

Well, now it seemed he was really losing his mind.

_Charming._

Strengthening his resolve, he took few hesitant steps towards the gigantic iron bars with intricate design but immediately stopped in his tracks when not even a moment after he had started walking, the massive metal gave out a loud creek and had swung open with a lout click inwards, no doubt the noise loud enough to wake the dead.

Cursing, he hesitantly darted through the open gates as he heard the howls in the distance, being aware that this was no doubt anything but an obvious trap but by already being surrounded by predators, his priorities had gone down considerably.

In his panic to get away from the wolves, he didn’t even notice he had broken out in a run, no doubt destroying his numb ankle and bruised ribs, which he will feel the effects of _excruciatingly_ the moment his body had a chance to warm up and go out of shock.

With adrenaline flooding his veins and giving him a much needed high, he ignored his burning lungs and dry throat, and ran as fast as he could, not noticing the iron gates having long closed after him in his rush to simply _flee!_

He only stopped when he simply couldn’t breathe, as his legs shook underneath him to bare his weight as he panted for breath hunched over his knees. The only sound he could hear was the howling of the northern winds as they below about him but strangely never through them. Shaking his head to get rid of his ridiculous thoughts, he finally took a notice of his surroundings and for the second time that day, felt utterly bewildered at the scenery before him.

Lying ahead, it looked to be a vast land belonging to an abandoned village.

The stone houses with shattered windows and broken doors, with interiors dark as the sky above him. To what little light the moon provided, Izaya took in all the little details as he walked down the narrow road, eyes wide as he surveyed the remains of a civilization drowning in riches.

Going down on his knees as he took in his frozen hand a piece of a broken window glass, he immediately noticed the swirling lines of colourful paint, the work representing one of France’s finest painters. The idea of a mere commoner in a village like this to be able to afford such a luxury was something utterly unheard of.

Just who were these people and why hadn’t the rest of the world ever heard of them and their riches? He contemplated as he stood up straight. Ignoring the glittering gems in the corner of his eyes, he moved his gaze upwards where the clouds were parting move, the moonlight finally revealing the rest of his path in a halo of blue light.

A castle, a bloody castle stood atop of a small hill that started a right few yards away from where he stood, and he didn’t even have any energy left in him to be surprised at this point.

A light laughter in the air behind him had him shivering, arms hugging his chest to strive off the goosebumps.

Listening to his instincts, he didn’t turn around to see the cause of the sudden sense of impending doom that shook his core, but instead half closed his eyes and turned his face into a mask of indifference as started along the long path above to the structure which was probably the cause of the nightmares that haunted children at night.

As further as he got away from the village, the fear retreated and breathing came easier to Izaya. Expecting the walk to be a long one, he was pleasantly surprised when in the matter of few short minutes, he found himself knuckle raised to knock on the door of the magnificent castle, which, if he were to be perfectly honest, didn’t look as gloomy as it did when had gazed upon it through the broken roads of the village.

Before the back of his hand could even touch the sleek looking surface, the doors opened without a sound inwards and Izaya resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

Yes, yes. He knew whatever powers that were at work here wanted him inside the bloody thing, and they didn’t have to be so forward about it, he mused as he took firm steps into the dark, standing stone still and didn’t even flinch when the doors closed behind him a loud bang.

Eyes quickly adjusting to the dim light from the roaring fireplace on the far right of the entrance hall, he noticed the grand staircase ahead of him, leading to the upper floors on the opposite right and left. Hung there in the middle of the parting ways of the stairs was a huge shredded painting of sorts which immediately caught his eye but he refrained himself from further getting himself into trouble.

Slowly moving towards the adjoining sitting area to warm himself and perhaps even dry his clothes a little, the loaf of bread with a tankard full of water on the small table in front of the couch was too alluring to be resisted after such a difficult ride.

He resisted the temptation for a while though as he stood by the empty couch, restraining himself with every ounce of energy he could mutter up to prevent him from ravishing the, too good to be true, invitation in front of him.

There is always a cost to be paid for comfort, he had learned that quiet early in his life and he wanted to know what it was before he got himself into anything.

“Hello? Is anyone there?” He called out, his voice booming across the silent hall.

“The doors practically let me in, I hope you don’t mind if I take up on your kind offer of hospitality for staying for few hours until I’ve managed to replenish my much-needed strength. After that, I will be on my way.” He continued, his innocent tone fake to his own ears.

After having received no answer, he shrugged openly in response and practically jumped on the tray. The indignation of choking or acting like a wild animal was the only reason why he allowed himself to slow down after handful of bites into the soft bread as he gulped down water greedily, resisting the urge to moan as his thirst and hunger finally abated a little as he slumped into the couch.

However, he was abruptly brought out of his pleasured haze when he heard a deep rumble, almost a growl from the opposite end of the hall submerged in darkness and he froze, eyes snapping towards the sound and all senses on full alert, body ready to snap into action at a split second.

Really, if they wanted an easy prey, they shouldn’t have allowed him the time to recover and cover his basic needs. Sure, his ankle and ribs were still a goner and his body would probably not allow him to move much, if at all after this journey was over but that was of no concern right now. He was still to numb to register any physical pain.

The rumble came again, a lot closer this time, and nearer to the entrance which cause Izaya to take few hesitant steps away from the fire place, away from his only source of escape.

_Bloody fantastic._

“It _stinks._ ” Came the rumble again, a low growl underneath the words.

Izaya blinked in utter bafflement and as indignation set in, he felt heat rush up to his cheeks.

“Well that’s not very nice thing to say to a guest now, is it?” drawled Izaya, lazily in response.

There were few answering growls and incomprehensible words as the noises grew closer to where he was standing, and he felt a moment of panic but he smoothed down his nerves as he thumbed the handle of his sheathed knife, the only other thing other than his book that he had on his person.

“You’ll have to translate that into a human language, I’m afraid. I don’t speak _beast_ ,” His mouth said, betraying him to his thoughts. Really, one would think he had a death wish.

A moment later that could be deemed to be true as there was a deafening roar and Izaya only had the time to see a massive, monstrous arm in the light of the fireplace before the limb grabbed the rear end of the couch and practically _flung_ it into his direction.

Holy shit, right. Great going, Izaya. Insult a beast by calling it a beast. Resisting the urge to face palm himself in the face, he barely managed to move aside the flying furniture in a split second, as it went crashing into the wall by the staircase behind him, the air whipping his hair around at the force behind it.

“Damn, that’s actually quite impressive for a monster,” He said, couldn’t resisting the urge to rail up the beast as he stood there, mouth gaping a little at the sight of half destroyed wall to what little he could make of it in the dim light but quickly reacted to the ground shaking bangs that orchestrated when, what Izaya assumed to be, the creature ran towards where he stood with another inhumane roar.

Internally panicking, he came up with a half-baked plan.

Waiting a split second for the creature to catch up, he quickly ducked and not a moment later he heard the creatures fist collide with the stone wall to his left with a loud howl of pain as he had swung it towards Izaya in an arc and that brought Izaya few precious seconds to start running towards the exit.

As he forced his legs to move faster towards the entrance doors. he felt a little tingling sensation at the back of his head and he ducked again, narrowly avoiding the shelf-wait a bloody _shelf?!_ \- thrown at his head as it went banging into the large doors and splitting into tiny pieces but the doors didn’t even budge at the force.

Sputtering as he came skidding to a stop inches from the wreckage, his heart gave a traitorous jump at finding that the rubble had been empty of anything precious like books and without stopping, quickly maneuvered the momentum to his right foot just in time to twirl towards his right and avoid another punch to the face just an inch away from his head.

Pushing his body weight forward, he didn’t wait for another pained howl of the beast before sprinting towards the direction of the stairs in a dead run.

Unfortunately, the stairs would slow him down and the beast had already recovered by the sounds of the angered roars that were too close to his person for comfort. He needed another plan and quick.

Red eyes darting around wildly to find a source of escape, he almost stumbled on his next step when he noticed a candelabra, it’s three glowing candles illuminating a small door by the place it was- _jumping?!_ around by the left side of the grand staircase, the passage usually used by the servants in the old ages, he remembered reading about.

Having seen weirder things today, he decided to panic later and act now. Hope blooming his chest, he worked his legs even faster to reach the door that the candelabra had just went inside and ignored death running towards him from behind.

He reached the door just in time to dart through it and quickly lock it behind him when he was jolted off his feet leaning against door when the beast practically _rammed_ against it full force. Scrambling ungracefully to his feet and stumbling few steps back, for a wild moment he thought the door would finally give as the beast continued to throw himself against it, snarling.

Not wanting to wait and find out, he turned around only to let out a soft scream, which will he deny doing so till his dying breath, which might be any second now as he came face to face with a half translucent human, floating an inch away from his face.

Stumbling back a few steps, still mindful of the rattling door on its hinges, he gulped nervously and panted for breath.

“You rile my brother unnecessarily, human. Yet you are the first one in years to whom he has responded to at all amongst many offerings I have brought him,” said the brown-haired man. His brown eyes were half closed, skin pale as Izaya himself and his face completely expressionless.

Izaya blurted out the first question that came to his mind without thinking it through with a little hysterical laugh,

“ _You’re his_ _brother?!”_

The pale man didn’t seem to take up the bait, but instead chose to nod in affirmation.

“Wait, what did you mean by offering? _You_ brought me here? I’m not on the menu! Tell your monster of a brother to eat someone else! ”

Again, the man annoyingly only nodded in response and tilted his head as he simply stared at Izaya, ignoring how he fidgeted uncomfortably under the scrutiny.

“Kasuka! Oh, I see you’ve introduced yourself already. How unfair! I saw him first!” Came a shrilling sound by the foot of the ghost- really fucking brilliant- and despite Izaya’s best efforts, he still jumped a little when his gaze locked at the gold candelabra.

A talking candelabra.

“It speaks,” Izaya strained out in response, feeling dizzy all of a sudden.

That caused the candelabra to turn his attention on him fully and it jumped a little where it stood, like an excited child.

“Aye, name’s Shinra! Pleased to make your acquaintance, my lord,” said the candelabra, two of its arms bending as it bowed, it fucking _bowed_ to Izaya.

He needed to get out of this bloody castle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am alive! Holy fuck I'm sorry guys. Universe hates me, I swear. My laptop crashed, had to order in a new one which took AGES and then retrieving the files from my previous hard disk took me forever but here it is! Shizu-channnnnn! Omfg I love this chapter and the next. I was practically cracking up the whole time writing it. 
> 
> Let me know your thoughts and your expectations down in the comments below! I really want to hear what you guys think! :3


End file.
